Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard was reviewed by David Schildknecht in his previous report, so it was interesting to compare our observations. I broadly agree with his sentiment, although I wager that it has improved a little since then, the brown spice component developing nicely on the nose, while the palate has plenty of sappy red berries and a succinct poise on the finish. Drink this over the next 4-5 years.
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Wine Spectator
Light in weight, with a moderate tannic grip to the black cherry and black tea flavors, lingering nicely. The tannins actually need time to soften. Best from 2014 through 2018.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Yamhill-Carlton, characterized by pastoral, rolling hills composed of shallow, quick-draining, ancient marine soil, is ideal for Pinot noir and other cool-climate-loving varieties. It is in the rain shadow of the Coast Range to its west, whose highest point climbs to an altitude of 3,500 feet. Yamhill-Carlton is actually surrounded by mountains on three sides: Chehalem Mountains to the north, the Dundee Hills to the east and the western Coast Range to its west, which, when it lets Pacific air through, serves to cool the region.
Vineyards grow on the ridges surrounding the two small communities of Yamhill and Carlton and cover about 1,200 acres of this 60,000 acre region, which roughly makes a horse-shoe shape on a map.